Songs that People Mistakenly Think are About Drugs

THC13
Music is a form of art. Art is interpreted differently from each person. So to some of you these songs are about drugs. If that's how you interpret it or that's how you relate to them then that's what it means to you. Cool. During different points of my life, I thought most these songs were about drugs. These songs are widely believed and debated on to be about drugs. However the artist have been on record saying that was not their intentions for the song. I still believe a song or two on this list are about drugs but the songwriter is using "art" to disguise it. I think they just deny it because they didn't want to deal with the backlash. Especially during the time alot of these songs came out, it could of been career suicide for the band.

The Top Ten

1Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - The Beatles

John didn't always speak straightforwardly in public. He often enjoyed being obtuse and leaving others guessing. While it's very likely the inspiration for the song began with his son's drawing, John's ideas when writing it were most likely influenced by LSD, and the similarities to describing a "trip" and using the letters for the name were intentional. - Billyv

My parents told me this song was about LSD when I was very young. I was lied to?! - Britgirl

Yes, I agree with THC13 - this song was about Lucy O'Donnell, a classmate of John's son Julian Lennon. - Metal_Treasure

A lot of people believe the song is about lsd or some other hallucinogen. Jimi claims it's a love song. - THC13

Jimi Hendrix said this song was inspired by a dream - he dreamed he was walking under the sea, surrounded by a purple haze.(not long ago I made a list with a similar idea and I remember it was about a dream - Top 10 Songs the Author Denied Was About Drugs) - Metal_Treasure

3Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd

Some think it's about heroine use. If you watch when this song is played in the movie The Wall, you'll understand the song. - THC13

4Mary Jane's Last Dance - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Ok, I think this is one of the songs that applies to my reference in the description box about some of the songs really are about drugs but the artist deny it for various reasons. I think this song is about growing a marijuana plant then rolling it up (party dress - zig zag or rolling paper) and smoking it. Her "last dance". But according to Tom, it's a goodbye love song. - THC13

Close. Not Meth but Heroin. Jim's girlfriend Pamela was a heroin addict, and died from an OD a few years after Jim left us.

Meth. The bands drummer John Densmore claims Jim wrote the song for a girl he was breaking up with. - THC13

6Pass the Dutchie - Musical Youth

The original version (Pass The Kouchie by Mighty Diamonds) IS about cannabis. However this version, since being sang by children, was changed. This version is about hungry children sharing what little food they have. - THC13

Looking back on the track for little green bag, just to some kind of guy

8Terrapin Station - Grateful Dead

This one's funny to me. a lot of Deadheads swear the word Terrapin is a play for the word "tripping". According to the band, the song is about a story teller on a (train? ) journey. - THC13

9Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - The Beatles

You youngsters probably don't know this but "Norwegian Wood" is, or was, a slang term for marijuana. The band swears it's not about pot though. - THC13

10Puff, The Magic Dragon - Peter, Paul & Mary

THIS SONG IS INNOCENT, dang it!

With "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds", I have the problem that the lyrics are just way too vague and cryptic to get something different than drugs out of them. Even with the band denying, it feels as if they described an LSD trip, which in combination with the title maked me highly sceptical of the group's official statement.

On this song however, we get a clear story line, one that can not be interpreted in a way of doing drugs, but it's rather a depressing take on the loss of childhood, and on evanescence. It's about an immortal dragon who likes to play with a young boy, his best friend, but the boy grows older and is not interested in the dragon anymore, who is left behind, living forever alone. That's in no way drug related. The title is just a poor choice of words. - Martin_Canine

THIS SONG IS INNOCENT, DANG IT! LEAVE PUFF, THE MAGIC DRAGON ALONE! THE AUTHORS EVEN CAME OUT AND SAID IT WAS ABOUT A DRAGON AND HIS FRIEND AND NOT ABOUT DRUGS! ARRGH!

The Contenders

11Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan

This one's ridiculous. Just because it has "stone" in it? - THC13

12Brain Stew - Green Day

This song is actually about insomnia

According to songfacts.com, “Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong wrote this about a time when he was suffering from insomnia (hence the album title). It was just after his wife had one of their first children, and the baby would keep him up. He used to stay up through the night and write songs like this and ‘Jaded.’” - Kokopawley